Who is kazuo ohno

From onwards, Hijikata directed a host of solo performances featuring Ohno. The first, Divine, was a tribute to the dying transvestite prostitute from Jean Genet's subversive novel Our Lady of the Flowers. From the beginning, Ohno was yin to Hijikata's yang. While some butoh dancers later came to embody an almost impenetrable stoicism, and others grotesque horror, Ohno expressed something more ethereal, feminine and ecstatic in his reveries. Ohno shed all social constructs in pursuit of essence, believing that "form comes by itself" wherever there is spiritual presence.

His revelations of love, pain and ghostly innocence were conveyed with the intuition of a great elder. The production won the Dance Critics' Circle award in Japan. As a teenager in , I stumbled across an image of Ohno on a peeling poster in the streets of Angers in north-west France.

Captivated by this mysterious portrait, I placed the picture above my bed, where it has remained to this day. As I discovered more about the artist and his work, Ohno's dance and philosophy became a source of great inspiration to me. In , I featured a portrait of him on the cover of my album The Crying Light. Earlier this year, I visited the Kazuo Ohno dance studio in Yokohama, established some 60 years ago, and collaborated with Yoshito on a performance celebrating his father's life and work.

At Ohno's bedside, I witnessed a surprising vitality and sensed an almost invisible movement reverberating through his elderly frame.

As he lay there, his window open to reveal a cherry blossom tree and a view of Mount Fuji, I realised that Ohno had developed a creative process that was a byproduct of his spiritual practice. His movements tapped into the shadowy subconscious memory of our time in the womb and of that time on the other end — eternity — about which, for now, we can only wonder.

For much of the performance, Kawaguchi wore translucent white tights. From the first piece, one of his knees was bleeding. That small detail — that tiny red stain amid so much white — for me emblemized Butoh. That this man who in his dedication to craft was so willing to take a back seat to the master, who was so willing to suffer for his audience before even reaching the main stage, was tremendously moving.

He was referring to dance, but could just as well have been speaking of writing or painting or prayer. Heather King is a blogger, speaker, and the author of several books. Visit heather-king.

Allen, Jr. Search for:. Awards: He was awarded a cultural award from Kanagawa Prefecture in , a cultural award from Yokohama city in and the Michelagelo Antonioni Award for the Arts in O" , "Mandala of Mr. O" and "Mr. Books: He has written three books on Butoh, "The Palace Soars through the Sky", a collection of essays and photographs, "Dessin" with drawings and notes on his Butoh creations and "Words of Workshop", a collection of lectures given in his workshop.

Also "Food for the Soul", a book of his selected pictures from 's through , has been published. Ohno points to this experience as the origin of his desire to become a dancer. Graduated from Japan Athletic College. Sometime during the next five years he was baptized as a Christian on the beach at Kamakura. Eguch and Miya , two of the pioneers of Japanese modern dance, had brought back "Neue Tanz" from his study at Mary Wigman's dance institute in Germany.

Drafted into the Japanese Army as a Second Lieutenant, eventually became a Captain in charge of provisions. Ohno and Hijikata met through Ando sometime between and He also appeared on television in and participated in one of Ando's concerts in Hijikata performed a revised two part version of "Kinjiki" Forbidden Colors , which included a section choreographed for Ohno based on the character Divine, the aging male prostitute in Jean Genet's "Notre -Dame -des -Fleurs".

Kazuo Ohno danced the role of koken the black-robed assistant in traditional theater , Monaaru Sato played the ritualist, other dancers included Akira Kasai and Takeshi Watanabe. Directed and choreographed by Hijikata. Based on the poetry collection of the same name by Ikuya Kato. Theme taken from a poetry collection by Ikuya Kato. Hijikata directed and choreographed.

Directed by Hijikata. Awarded the Dance Critics' Circle Award for Invited to the 14th International Festival in Nancy, France. In August gave a lecture demonstration as part of Montreal's "Symposium '80" at the University of Quebec. Gave a lecture demonstration at the University of Caracas.

Participated in the Butoh Festival in Tokyo. Tatsumi Hijikata died of cancer on January 21st. Performed "Water Lilies" at the Asia Society. Participated in Dresden Comtemporary Music Festival. Toured Italy: workshop in Venezia and outdoor performances in the summer festivals of Sardenia, Lipari and Salina in Sicily.

Gave workshop and performances in Vienna. Workshop and performances in West Berlin. Visited Cremona where lute-maker, Stradivalius lived. Decided to create a piece related to Stradivalius at the municipal theater of Cremona in The book includes his essays on Butoh piece creation, photos of each work and articles about Ohno.